China go down 4-0 to Brazil

With goals from Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, Brazil defeated China 4-0 on Saturday in Group C, ousting the Asians from the World Cup finals.

Reported by Indo-Asian News Service

Read Time: 2 mins

Seogwipo, South Korea:

With goals from Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, Brazil defeated China 4-0 on Saturday in Group C, ousting the Asians from the World Cup finals. The four Rs were too much for China. Roberto Carlos scored on a free kick in the 15th minute, followed by Rivaldo in the 32nd, Ronaldinho in the 45th from the penalty spot and Ronaldo in the 55th.
As Brazil won its second straight game in the group it beat Turkey 2-1 in its opener China joined Slovenia, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia as teams without a chance of making the second round of soccer's showcase event. China lost to Costa Rica 2-0 in its opener.
Costa Rica faced Turkey on Sunday in the other Group C match. Group C wraps up play Thursday with Brazil against Costa Rica and Turkey playing China. Turkey, Costa Rica and Brazil are still in contention to be the top two and advance to the final 16.
Roberto Carlos' free kick from 25 meters (yards) was his first free-kick goal for Brazil in five years. The shot rifled off his famous left foot and barely twisted as it sailed in over the outstretched arms of China goalkeeper Jiang Jin, who was diving to his right.
Rivaldo, with Ronaldinho sending in a pass from the left wing, left-footed the ball from 6 meters (yards) behind Jiang to make it 2-0 in the 32nd. It was Rivaldo's second goal of this World Cup. Ronaldinho converted his penalty in the 45th after Ronaldo was pulled down in the area by China's Li Weifeng.
Ronaldo, with his second goal of the tournament, got into the act in the 55th when he chipped in a shot off Cafu's cross from deep on the right side. Ronaldo was stopped by Jiang in the 71st on a point-blank shot from 8 yards.
China came close to scoring its first goal in the World Cup finals when Zhao Junzhe hammered an 18-meter (yard) shot that glanced off the post to the left of Brazilian 'keeper Marcos.
China played a pair of untested defenders to fill its injury-riddled lineup with Du Wei and Zhao Junzhe starting. China's defense took a blow when Manchester City defender Sun Jihai injured his right ankle and Dundee's Fan Zhiyi hurt his calf in China's opening game loss to Costa Rica.
Lineups:Brazil: 1-Marcos; 2-Cafu (c), 3-Lucio, 4-Roque Junior, 6-Roberto Carlos, 8-Gilberto Silva, 9-Ronaldo (Edilson 72), 10-Rivaldo, 11-Ronaldinho (Denilson 46), 14-Anderson Polga, 19-Juninho Paulista (Ricardinho 70).
China: 22-Jiang Jin; 4-Wu Chengying, 8-Li Tie, 9-Ma Mingyu c (3-Yang Pu 62), 10-Hao Haidong (Qu Bo 75), 14-Li Weifeng, 15-Zhao Junzhe, 17-Du Wei, 18-Li Xiaopeng, 19-Qi Hong (6-Shao Jiayi), 21-Xu Yunlong.
Referee: Anders Frisk (Sweden).